Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2006 12:49:34 -0600
From: Chris Geszvain
Subject: Chapter 12 Evergreen Academy and the Golden Club
Evergreen Academy and the Golden Club
Chapter 12
The investigation
Daniel went to look for Jared on that Saturday. He found him in the animal
house with his unicorn. The unicorn was snow white and had a noble look and
posture.
"I'd like to have a look at your dorm room if it's possible," said Daniel.
He couldn't help admiring the beauty of the unicorn, but knew to keep a safe
distance. He could still remember his first encounter with Fireball.
"Sure," Jared answered, combing the mane of the unicorn. "You can come
closer. Wind won't bite or kick."
"This is Wind and Wind this is our detective Daniel," Jared said to Daniel
and the unicorn.
The unicorn seemed to understand what Jared said. He gave Daniel a nod.
>From his posture, however, Daniel could tell he would not enjoy being petted
by a stranger.
"Just so you know, I went down to the ocean to apologize to the merpeople,"
said Jared with his voice lowered.
"You don't have to report to me," said Daniel; he was glad to hear it
nonetheless.
"I just thought you'd like to know," said Jared. "Come around at three this
afternoon."
Jared's dorm room had the same layout as Daniel's except that there was
more stuff. There were more books on the shelves. All his roommates had
posters of famous immortal athletes and singers on the wall by their beds
except Jared. On the wall above his bed was a painting of himself with his
nose high in the air.
"He must really love himself," Daniel could not help thinking.
"Where did you put the Golden Club?" he asked.
"Under my pillow," answered Jared.
"May I?"
"Go ahead," said Jared with a shrug.
Daniel looked under his pillow. There were some money, a gold pocket watch
and a mirror underneath.
"It's not what you think," said Jared, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's
a magical mirror. You can see ghosts with it."
"Does anyone else know what the mirror's for?" Daniel asked.
"No," said Jared
Daniel could tell that Jared was about to say something else but changed
his mind. He thought about the dilemma people had about their magical
treasures. The best way to keep them safe was to be quiet about them but it
also took the fun out. He wondered why Jared didn't show everyone the power
of the mirror like he had with the Golden Club-maybe he couldn't find a
ghost here on the island.
"Do many people know that you hide your treasures under the pillow?" asked
Daniel.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, right?" said Jared
dismissively. "There are only a couple of places to look: the drawer and the
bed."
"I don't think those are the only places though," said Daniel, putting the
pillow back. "If the thief had kept the Golden Club in either place, you
would have found it yourself long ago."
He was referring to the search Jared had done himself, presumably with the
help of his friends.
For a moment, Jared looked embarrassed, which Daniel thought he was
incapable of.
"Why didn't you want to accept my offer?" asked Jared after a while. "I
thought you needed the money."
Daniel believed that Jared had searched through his stuff and saw nothing
valuable.
"Yes, I did, but I wasn't that desperate."
It had been more than one month and Daniel didn't think there were any
clues left in the room. Then something at a corner of the floor caught his
eye. It was a small short hair. Daniel picked it up and looked at it
closely. It was unlike a human hair. The hair was thinner and grayish.
"It's probably from Tim, my roommate," said Jared. The sarcastic tone had
disappeared. "He has a talkie dog."
Daniel went back to the dorm, thinking about the hair. He knew it would be
a waste of time to investigate the source of the hair. It could come from
any other animal, even if it didn't belong to Tim's dog. Most students had
pets and they visited each other in their dorm rooms all the time. It could
also have been blown into the room by wind or attached to the robes of
anyone who visited the animal house.
On their way to the dinning hall the next morning, the monkey, as usual,
threw nuts at them. Daniel had noticed that the monkey's hair was very
different from the one he picked up the previous day. It was brown and
longer. It, however, struck Daniel as strange that although he threw nuts or
pebbles at people, he never really attacked anyone except Owen and it
happened to be the night of Moon festival. It wasn't like he was a werewolf
and could not control himself on the full moon.
"Do you have any idea why the monkey attacked you the other night?" Daniel
asked Owen.
"No. Why? I told you before."
Owen still seemed uncomfortable talking about the incident. Daniel could
tell that he wasn't keen on helping Jared out either.
"Do you think it's possible that someone had put a charm on him?" In that
case, the monkey was more like a victim than the accomplice. It also
explained why the monkey came back-he was innocent.
"Yes," Owen seemed to like the theory too. "There is this Rabies charm. The
person that got hit will start attacking anyone close by."
"Do you know how to do the charm?"
"Hell no." exclaimed Owen. "It's a really nasty charm. It's illegal too."
"I wish I could talk to animals," said Daniel. A talk with the monkey would
clear a lot of things up. "I don't think those birds will be any help-they
were fast asleep-even if they were awake, they are blind at night."
"If you really think it has anything to do with the theft, we can ask Mike
for help," Owen suggested.
"He might think that we think he owes us a favor because we helped him
once," said Daniel.
"What?" Owen asked, looking confused.
"He may not want to help us, but feel obligated," said Daniel.
"I don't think he's allergic to monkeys," said Owen. "It's not like it's a
big favor to ask, and I don't mind knowing why the monkey attacked me
either."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Daniel. He knew that the main
reason Owen was willing to do this was to help him out.
"Yes," said Owen.
They caught Mike after school. It was not hard to find him alone. Tom,
Mike's only friend, was an active member in the student government and spent
a lot of time there.
It was Daniel's idea to talk to him alone. He didn't want other people to
know that he was playing a private detective and he knew that Owen didn't
want other people to know that the monkey attacked him.
"Could you do me a favor?" asked Owen.
There was a moment of joy in Mike's eyes, but it was soon replaced by
defiance.
"No, I don't want to," he said.
Daniel saw panic on his face when Owen took a step closer.
"I said no," he turned around and ran away quickly.
"What's the matter with him?" said Daniel, looking at the small figure.
"You didn't offend him before or anything, did you?"
"No," said Owen. He looked like he was offended himself. "He's just a rat.
That's all."
All of a sudden, everyone in the school seemed to be a suspect. When Daniel
looked at Kerri, he thought that she had the perfect chance. She was alone
when everyone else was at the party; but he dismissed the idea quickly,
mainly because it made him feel cold-hearted. It was hard to imagine she
could steal something and then cry her heart out for a couple of abusive
parents. From what Daniel had learned, he didn't think that Kerri had double
personalities. When he looked at Michelle, he thought that she had the
motive. She and Jared were cousins. She could be jealous of him. Some
students acted completely normal, but Daniel thought that they were just
acting. If they acted a little out of character, he would think that they
must have been feeling guilty. And he thought that maybe Jared suspected
him. Asking him to find the Golden Club was just a way to test him.
A week passed without any progress. Daniel woke up on Friday night. He lay
on his bed, listening to the sounds of the night. The breaths of the
sleeping students were like gentle tides. The late autumn night was quiet
compared to a summer night. Leaves were waving gently in the late night
breeze. Water in the creek ran languidly through the garden. Then he heard
some movement on Owen's bed. He heard him get up and walk out of the dorm
without making any noise.
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